A Meadow in Eragny 1889

Camille Pissarro produced this painting of a meadow in Eragny using oil on canvas. Eragny, a small village in France, became Pissarro's home and a recurring subject in his work. Made in the late 19th century, this painting offers a window into the changing social landscape of rural France. The idyllic scene of grazing cows and rustic buildings speaks to the values of agrarian life that were increasingly under threat from industrialization. Pissarro’s choice of subject and his style, with its emphasis on capturing the fleeting effects of light and atmosphere, challenge the academic art of the time. You can see a focus on the lives of ordinary people and the beauty of the everyday. To fully understand this painting, we might turn to local archives, census records, and studies of French rural history. These resources help reveal the social and economic context in which Pissarro lived and worked. Art is inseparable from the world in which it is made.